Abstract
This study estimates a food insecurity index and examines the factors that influence food insecurity among small farmers in Nigeria. Data for the study were collected from 400 farming households in Osun area of the southwestern Nigeria. Descriptive statistics, a cost of calorie function (COC) and a Tobit regression model were used to analyze the data. A regression model made up of 15 regressors was specified. Eleven of the specified variables were found to have significant influence on food insecurity. A decomposition of the total elasticity change in the dependent variables shows that three of the variables are elastic. The results showed that food insecurity among farming households in south western Nigeria was influenced by agricultural production inputs, remittances received from external members of household, improved asset base and production capacity of the households. Key words: Food insecurity, determinants, cost of calorie function (COC) function, Tobit, small farmers, Nigeria.
Highlights
Inadequate food supply is one of the most critical problems facing Nigeria
The agricultural sector has not been able to meet the demand for food. This is due to the fact that the Nigerian agriculture is still predominantly small scale, rudimentary and largely unmechanised characterized by subsistent to semi-commercialized production systems
2250 Kcal, the food insecurity line (Z) for the households was estimated at N 69.14 per day (N 2143.47 per month) per adult equivalent
Summary
Inadequate food supply is one of the most critical problems facing Nigeria. The agricultural sector has not been able to meet the demand for food. This is due to the fact that the Nigerian agriculture is still predominantly small scale, rudimentary and largely unmechanised characterized by subsistent to semi-commercialized production systems. Farmers operate at a low level of production with highly labour intensive technology. Hired labour costs constitutes over 60% of total cash costs of production with family labour representing over 75% of the supply of farm labour. The sector is further characterized by low fixed capital investment with practitioners having a low level of literacy (Anthonio, 1967; Olayemi, 1980; Amaza et al, 2008)
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